Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is reportedly working on its own search engine powered by artificial intelligence. The objective: to reduce its dependence on Google and Microsoft, according to a recent report from The Information.
A web crawler spotted several months ago
According to a source involved in the strategy, Meta has already started indexing the web about 8 months ago. The goal would be to integrate this data into Meta AI, the company’s chatbot available on WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.
Currently, Meta AI relies on Google and Bing search engines to provide answers on news, stocks or sports. But the company had already hinted this summer that it was developing its own web crawler technology, officially to “train AI models or improve products.”
Avoiding new dependencies
This initiative would be a direct response to the problems caused by its dependence on other tech giants in the past. Meta was particularly affected by the app tracking transparency feature launched by Apple in 2021, which cost it more than $10 billion in advertising revenue.
Mark Zuckerberg would therefore like to make Meta as autonomous as possible, to prevent a similar scenario from happening again if Google or Microsoft were to cut off access to their web searches. It’s unclear whether Meta currently pays either for this access.
AI at the heart of strategy
In any case, Meta’s investments in AI seem to be bearing fruit. In August, Zuckerberg reported that Meta AI had more than 185 million weekly active users and more than 400 million monthly. Figures growing strongly, even though the service is not yet available in the United Kingdom, Brazil or the EU.
Developing its own search engine powered by AI therefore appears to be a logical next step for Meta. The company recently formed a partnership with Reuters to help its chatbot answer current affairs questions. Enough to allow it, in the long term, to emancipate itself a little more from its competitors in online research.
The race for AI is intensifying and Meta intends to stay in the race. While Apple could also release its own privacy-focused search engine, Meta seems determined to break free from Google and Microsoft by developing its own search technology. A way for the social media giant to regain control over its products and services.
